In many ways, The Poisonwood Bible can be seen be as a story that is the result of guilt, a narrative of how guilt affected the Price family, and how each member ultimately dealt with their guilt or lack thereof. As the Price family tried to survive the daily struggle of living in the hazardous Congo, each of them, excluding Nathan Price, evolved in how they perceived their lives and their family members consciousness in regard to the guilt they were feeling. As Sophie Crisy explains, the narrative of guilt in The Poisonwood Bible is a result of the characters ultimately looking back on their lives and the events that caused them to end up being the people they were at the end of the novel (Crisy 1). This is evident in all of the children and Orleanna …show more content…
On the other hand, Rachel was quite the opposite, keeping her discriminating views developed from America and not changing, but enhancing them in her time during the Congo. Ultimately, the result of being only self-conscious and uncaring for anyone beside herself led her to being a successful business owner in the apartheid times of South Africa, but she was lonely. Adah, as an exception, according the Sophie Crisy, was not an active participant when guilt comes into play; she was just an active observer, criticizing what she viewed as wrong and unfair and detailing the events unfolding from a unique and interesting perspective. (Crisy 1) Ruth May was too young to feel the evolving presence of guilt within her family, and ultimately became the one main thing that every family member took away from the Congo feeling guilty about. Eventually, Ruth May’s death was a defining aspect of guilt that was told during the book. Orleanna eventually could live with herself once Ruth May’s spirit had forgiven